To commemorate World War II
Speaker of Parliament Bas wants to travel to Kyiv
05/05/2022 11:13 am
Federal President Steinmeier is not wanted, Chancellor Scholz does not want to. To this end, the President of the Bundestag, Bas, is traveling to Kyiv at the invitation of her counterpart. Together with him she wants to commemorate the victims of the Second World War and talk about the current situation.
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas wants to travel to Kyiv as Germany’s highest representative to date. A spokeswoman said she wanted to go to Ukraine at the invitation of her Ukrainian counterpart, Ruslan Stefanchuk, to commemorate all the victims of World War II with him and to hold political talks. As President of the Bundestag, the SPD politician holds the second highest office in Germany after the Federal President.
The World War II commemoration in Ukraine is on May 8th, so next Sunday. The planning for this has been going on since the beginning of April, said the spokeswoman for the Bundestag. The constantly changing security situation is observed. Such trips require careful and intensive coordination, also with the Ukrainian side and the responsible security authorities. Further information is therefore not possible.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier actually wanted to travel to Kyiv in April – together with the presidents of Poland and the three Baltic states. However, he was discharged from the Ukrainian side at short notice. That’s why his party colleague, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, doesn’t want to go to Ukraine now. “It is a problem that the President of the Federal Republic of Germany was uninvited. And that is in the room,” said Scholz last Wednesday after the cabinet meeting in Meseberg Castle.
Members of the federal government have not visited Ukraine since the Russian invasion of the country, unlike leaders of the EU and many EU member states. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the Greens has not traveled to Ukraine either. On the other hand, CDU leader Friedrich Merz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Kyiv this week.
Bas had had plans to visit Kyiv for some time. Apparently she wanted to let Scholz go first.